NetBill security and transaction protocol

Abstract

NetBill is a system for micropayments for information goods on the Internet. This paper presents the NetBill protocol and describes its security and transactional features. Among our key innovations are: . An atomic certified delivery method so that a customer pays if and only if she receives her information goods intact. . Outsourcing access control: different users can use different access control servers. . A credential mechanism allowing users to prove membership in groups. This supports discounts. . A structure for constructing pseudonyms to protect the identities of consumers. 1. Introduction and Overview Buyers and sellers increasingly want to use the Internet to conduct their business electronically. As a base for commerce, the Internet poses special challenges due to its lack of standard security mechanisms. At the same time, the ease with which buyers can peruse catalogs published via the World Wide Web makes the Internet attractive for commerce. Consumers will want to use t...